1. Technical Field
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a light-emitting diode (“LED”) package, a light source module having the LED package, and a backlight assembly having the light source module. More particularly, example embodiments of the present invention relate to an LED package used as a light source of a display device, a light source module having the LED package, and a backlight assembly having the light source module.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (“LCD”) device displays an image using a liquid crystal that has optical characteristics such as anisotropic refractivity and electrical characteristics such as an anisotropic dielectric constant. LCD devices are thinner, require a lower driving voltage, consume less power, etc., compared to other display devices such as cathode ray tube (“CRT”) devices and plasma display panel (“PDP”) devices. LCD devices are used in laptop computers, monitors, television receiver sets, mobile phones, etc. LCD devices display an image using optical and electrical properties of liquid crystal molecules, such as an anisotropic refractive index and an anisotropic dielectric constant. LCD devices include an LCD panel displaying an image using an optical transmittance of liquid crystal molecules and may include a backlight assembly disposed below the LCD panel to provide light to the LCD panel.
The backlight assembly includes a light source generating light required to display an image on the LCD panel. The backlight assembly may employ a cathode fluorescent lamp (“CCFL”), a flat fluorescent lamp (“FFL”), or a light-emitting diode (“LED”) as the light source. When compared with the other light sources, LEDs have high light-emitting efficiency, a long lifetime, low power consumption, eco-friendly characteristics, etc., so that LEDs have been employed in various devices.
When the LED is employed as a light source of a backlight assembly, the LED may be manufactured as a package type LED in which a light-emitting chip is mounted on an inner portion of a case, and is electrically connected to a printed circuit board (“PCB”) through a lead frame that is electrically connected to the light-emitting chip. LED packages are manufactured as top view and side view types depending on a usage thereof. In the top view type LED, light generated from the light-emitting chip is emitted toward an upper portion of the LED package. In the side view type LED, light generated from the light-emitting chip is emitted toward a side surface of the LED package.
The top view type LED may have a higher luminance and longer life than the side view type LED. However, when a backlight assembly employs the top view type LED, the PCB is received at a side wall of a receiving container so that a width of the PCB is limited. The width of the PCB is further limited in order to reduce the thickness of the LCD device. Moreover, the number of LEDs may be increased to increase the luminance of the LCD device, and thus the number of wirings and layers of the PCB are increased. Therefore, when the PCB is configured in multi-layers, manufacturing costs of the backlight assembly are increased.